There are over 20,000 known species of bees, but for most people it helps to think of them in a few big groups: honey bees, bumblebees, stingless bees, carpenter/sweat/leafcutter/mason bees, and many other solitary species that rarely get noticed.

Big picture

  • Scientists estimate around 20,000+ bee species worldwide, in many families and genera.
  • Only a small fraction make honey or live in large hives; most are solitary and nest in soil, hollow stems, or wood.

Social bees most people know

  • Honey bees (Apis) – The classic hive bees, with a queen, thousands of female workers, and male drones; they store surplus honey and wax in combs and are major crop pollinators.
  • Bumblebees (Bombus) – Larger, fuzzy bees with black and yellow (sometimes orange or white) bands; they live in smaller annual colonies and are excellent pollinators, especially in cooler weather.
  • Stingless bees – Mostly tropical relatives of honey bees that live in colonies, make honey, but have reduced stings and different nest styles (tree cavities, ground, etc.).

Many bees are solitary

Most bee species are solitary: each female builds and provisions her own nest instead of working for a queen.

  • Mining/ground‑nesting bees (Andrena and others) – Often small, brown or black; dig tunnels in bare soil, especially in spring.
  • Carpenter bees (Xylocopa) – Big, often shiny black bees that tunnel into wood to make nests; more than 500 species are known.
  • Leafcutter bees (Megachile) – Cut neat circles or crescents from leaves or petals and use them to line nest cells in stems or wood; over 1,000 species.
  • Mason bees (Osmia) – Use mud or similar materials to partition nests in holes and are extremely efficient fruit‑tree pollinators.
  • Sweat bees (Halictidae) – Usually small, sometimes metallic green or blue; many nest in soil and are attracted to human sweat; thousands of species exist.

Other interesting types

  • Cuckoo bees (e.g., Nomada, Sphecodes) – Do not build their own nests; instead, they lay eggs in other bees’ nests, a bit like a bird cuckoo.
  • Long‑horned bees (Melissodes) – Males have very long antennae; many specialize on certain flowers and are good wild pollinators.
  • Within honey bees specifically, there are different regional strains (Italian, Carniolan, Russian, Buckfast, German, Caucasian, etc.), bred or adapted for different climates and temperaments.

Quick recap

  • “What kind of bees are there?” – far more than just honey bees.
  • Key groups: honey bees, bumblebees, stingless bees, carpenter/mining/leafcutter/mason/sweat bees, plus parasitic cuckoo bees and many other solitary forms.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.